84 BROWN BIRDS WITH SPOTTED BREASTS. 



with brown, with dark streaks on throat, breast, and 

 flanks. Resident. 



Eggs. — 3-5, dull gTay, mottled with greenish- 

 brown, sometimes forming a zone ; "94 x '68 inch 

 (plate 124). 



Nest. — Of dry grass, lined with finer grass, and 

 placed on the ground under cover of a tuft or a clod. 



Distribution. — General, but local in north 

 Scotland. 



The Skylark's continuous, resounding song, de- 

 livered on the wing at a great height, marks it oft' 

 from every other bird except its kinsman, the Wood- 

 lark. It may be distinguished, however, from the 

 latter at such a time by its more direct ascent, the 

 Woodlark sweeping aside in broad arcs as it mounts. 

 Both birds sing either on the ground or in the air, 

 but whilst the Woodlark perches also on trees to sing, 

 the Skylark very rarel}^ does so. The tail of the 

 Skylark is notably longer than is the case with the 

 Woodlark, and during the bird's flight the outer tail- 

 feathers show conspicuously white, whereas in the 

 Woodlark the outer tail-feathers are dark. Both 

 birds use a walking, not a hopping gait. Grass lands 

 and ploughed fields are the haunts of the Skylark, 

 and when disturbed he squats with pufiTed feathers, 

 slack wings, and raised crest, rising reluctantly with 

 a musical * Pr-r-r-r-r-r ! ' and flitting low to the 

 ground. At times he hovers stationarily over a 

 particular spot like a miniature Kestrel. He is a 

 great lover of dust-baths, and is frequently to be 

 met shuftiing in the liot dust of the highways. In 

 spring and autunm Skylarks are met in loose floclcs, 



